Mark Christensen is the studio owner and Chief Mastering Engineer at Engine Room Audio in New York City. Christensen is currently known for mastering, producing, and mixing music in the genres of rock, pop, R&B, classical, and hip hop. Christensen has worked on hundreds of albums, seven of which have been nominated for Grammy Awards as of 2022, with two wins. Christensen has also mastered over thirty Billboard chart top ten hits, and has been involved with 50 projects that have been awarded platinum or gold status by the RIAA. He has mastered material by OK GO, The Killers, 98 Degrees, Boyz II Men, Fergie, Toni Braxton, Talib Kweli, Trey Songz, 50 Cent, Ryan Leslie and The Ting Tings, among others. Along with business partner Scott Lee, Mark opened the New York Audio Academy, an audio engineering school hosted at Engine Room Audio to teach and mentor students on how to record, mix, master and produce records that comply with the music industry's highest standards. Along with Scott Lee and Charles Farrar, he is one of the principals of Bond Street Artist Management. He also periodically chairs and moderates audio engineering panels at music industry events.
Career
Early touring and production (1980s–1990s) Mark B. Christensen was born in Germany, and raised in the United States and England. By the age of sixteen he was touring with his own progressive rock material in the midwest. He began producing music at age nineteen, while also studying audio engineering and mastering techniques. He spent three years living in London in the early 1990s, producing independent albums and touring with bands such as The Waterboys and The Clash.
After returning to New York City Christensen began working at Soundtrack City as a line producer, and in 1995 he began playing with a number of New York bands. While at Soundtrack City, he signed another record deal based on a self-produced demo, and ended up working on tours for bands such as Radiohead, The Wallflowers and The Gin Blossoms. By the late 1990s he had played as a lead vocalist, guitarist, or songwriter for several bands in Colorado, London, and New York. Also in the 1990s he did session work as a singer, guitarist, and songwriter, singing backup on several projects by Kevin Salem of Roadrunner Records and co-writing material with Ivan Neville. Through Soundtrack City he also worked on the soundtracks for several commercials and films, including music videos for artists such as The Rolling Stones, Cyndi Lauper, Duran Duran, LL Cool J, and 3rd Bass. In 1995 he took a partial hiatus from music. During this time he opened and operated a restaurant in Manhattan, returning to music once the restaurant was financially stable.
Founding Engine Room Audio (1996–2003) In 1996 Christensen founded Engine Room Audio (ERA) in lower Manhattan, originally constructing the studio in his loft apartment to master and record local bands. He is studio owner and chief engineer, and in 2000 he designed the cover for an album by Sin Dizzy. In 2001 he engineered several choral albums through Engine Room Audio, and the following year he remastered the bonus tracks for Linda Perhacs' Parallelograms. As of 2002 Engine Room Audio has offered traditional mastering and duplication services, as well as engineering, mastering, recording, and in some cases production. Clients at the studio have since included Lady Gaga, The Killers, and The Ting Tings, Kylie Minogue, A$AP Rocky, and Toni Braxton, among others. Other mastering projects at ERA include an album by Tony Jarvis, a number of classical albums for Museovitch Productions, and several projects for Respect Music, an alternative dance label in Hong Kong.
Founding Engine Room Recordings (2004–08)
The independent record label Engine Room Recordings was started by Christensen and Peter Block in 2005. In 2006 the label released its first record, Twisted Heart by Goat, with Christensen mastering. The New York City-based band Porter Block soon joined the roster, with Christensen again mastering their debut album. Engine Room is also well known for producing the compilation series Guilt by Association. Guilt by Association Vol. 1 (2007), Guilt by Association Vol. 2 (2008) and Guilt by Association Vol. 3 (2011) feature various independent artists covering well-known pop, R&B and rock songs from the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, with Christensen mastering. The label released a compilation of Weezer covers in 2012.